Miley Cyrus’s out-of-this-world performance. Lady Gaga’s mermaid costume. One Direction winning “Song of the Summer.” Austin Mahone winning “Artist to Watch.” JT’s full-concert performance in the middle of the show. *NSYNC’s first live performance together in years. Flying up to Brooklyn, New York, to watch the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards definitely wasn’t a bad idea.

I arrived over an hour early to the Barclay’s Center front entrance for the live show. Upon my arrival, my friend and I were escorted to an area blocked off by black curtains, and lined with security guards. Thinking this was a little excessive for what we thought were “okay” seats, we were shocked when we turned the corner and found a room full of our favorite TV, movie and music stars.

Among the many stars that circled the bars and bathrooms in the curtained-off area, I got to meet several of my idols. Some highlights were definitely exchanging “hi”s with Taylor Swift, talking with Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, exchanging favorite AWKWARD. moments with the best couple from the hit MTV show, Brett Davern and Jillian Reed, and getting a picture with “Artist to Watch” award winner and longtime favorite singer of mine, Austin Mahone.

The show started with a strange yet beautiful performance by “Applause” artist Lady Gaga. Despite her frequent, occasionally awkward, costume changes, the message of the song clearly came across. She was there to entertain and be applauded, and that’s exactly what happened.

Gaga was followed by a mash-up between Miley Cyrus’s newest single “We Can’t Stop” and Robin Thicke’s overplayed “Blurred Lines.” This had to be the most uncomfortable performance of the night.

Cyrus came out with a bang, wearing a unitard, pigtails, and sticking her tongue out in between verses. During Thicke’s performance, she got her hands on a foam finger, which quickly became her favorite prop on stage. Thicke wasn’t sure what to do with her crazy display, as, in his popular song, he likes a “good girl,” which Cyrus definitely wasn’t.

The performance that was the main event was Justin Timberlake, who spent approximately 15 and a half minutes on stage, mashing up almost all of his hits from the past two decades, including “Bye Bye Bye,” which he sang alongside the rest of the popular boyband *NSYNC.

The surprise reunion caused fans of the band’s to go wild, and made the performance the best of the night. Timberlake went on to win the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and the award for Video of the Year with his recent release, “Mirrors.”

Winners of Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Video with a Social Message, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, hit the stage next. Their performance of Moonman-winning “Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)” was inspirational. In light of recent developments in the gay rights movement, this song winning an award was an awesome addition to the show. Jennifer Hudson didn’t sing badly, either.

The final performance of the night was a knock-out! Katy Perry sang her recently released “Roar” under the Brooklyn bridge. Themed as a cage fight, Perry had some kickin’ dance moves and a great story to go with her first live performance of the song. She’s grown up a lot since her last album, Teenage Dream, and I’m excited to see where she goes from here.

What did you think of the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards? Share your favorite performances, “best-dressed” votes, and more at chsglobe.com in the comments section!